Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff or a deputy should have been "the central focal point" of the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina, congressional investigators asserted Wednesday, saying the lack of a clear chain of command hindered relief efforts. The Government Accountability Office also found that the government still lacks sufficient plans and training programs to prepare for catastrophic disasters like the Aug. 29 storm that devastated much of the Gulf Coast area. The GAO report said that neither Chertoff nor any of his designated officials served as an overall coordinator of the response to the storm, "which serves to underscore the immaturity of and weaknesses relating to the current national response framework." ... http://www.cbsnews.com

The majority of the European coverage following the State of the Union address focused on President Bush's call to end America's oil addiction. It also zeroed in on the president's weakened state.Many newspapers suggested that after a turbulent year, Bush's address to the nation was his chance to reinvigorate his presidency and win back the support of a disapproving public. Under the headline "A Speech From a President Cut Down To Size," the Times of London focused on the president's struggle to take charge of the election-year agenda despite sagging polls. "The U.S. got its first clear glimpse of just how scaled-down his presidential objectives have become," said Gerard Baker, the Times' U.S. editor....http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=1564933&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

First came thousands of police and troops to guard the roads, then hundreds of officials to monitor residents, and finally the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to share Lunar New Year celebrations with ordinary citizens. At a time when the Chinese government is worried by rising social unrest, Wen and other national leaders this week embarked on annual pilgrimages to workers and farmers in poorer regions.Wen toured rural Heze and neighboring Jining in Shandong province in coastal northern China, highlighting his promise to improve farmers' healthcare, schools and incomes in the country's next five-year development plan."When the village prospers, rural life improves. When people prosper, they become more unified -- that's how a society becomes harmonious," he told residents of Guozhuang Village near Heze, according to the official Xinhua News Agency....http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060201/ts_nm/china_leader_dc

Saddam Hussein's trial has resumed in open session without the chief defendant or any defence lawyers. Just three of eight defendants attended proceedings, and a court-appointed defence team was installed. The regular defence team wants the Kurdish chief judge to quit, saying he is not impartial as his home town of Halabja was hit by poison gas in 1988. The ex-Iraqi leader and seven others are on trial for the 1982 killings of 148 Shia villagers - charges they deny. The trial, which resumed on Wednesday after a delay and a closed session blamed by court officials on "procedural issues", has been adjourned until Thursday. Of the eight seats in the centre of the court usually occupied by Saddam Hussein and his co-defendants, just three were taken when legal arguments began. Among the missing were the most senior defendants: Saddam Hussein's half-brother Barzan al-Tikriti, former Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan and ex-judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4668482.stm